Founding Recruiter & People Ops Associate

Location - San Francisco, CA - (On-site – 5 Days Per Week)

Compensation - $110,000 – $145,000 Base Equity

Visa - No Visa Sponsorship Available

Company Stage - Seed Stage (YC W24 | Mid-Seven Figures ARR)

Industry - Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Enterprise Security, B2B SaaS

About the Company

The company is building the next generation of AI-powered cybersecurity infrastructure, helping businesses proactively detect and eliminate identity-based security risks before they become breaches.

After reaching product-market fit in under a year and growing to mid-seven-figure ARR while protecting more than 2.5 million users across over 10,000 businesses, the company has become one of the fastest-growing startups in cybersecurity. Unlike many early-stage companies, it has achieved significant commercial success while maintaining financial discipline, giving it exceptional long-term growth potential.

Founded by experienced operators from leading cybersecurity companies including Abnormal Security, Palo Alto Networks, and Bridgewater, the company is building an elite team that values ownership, execution, and speed.

As the Founding Recruiter & People Ops Associate, you'll become the company's first dedicated People hire, working directly with the CEO to build recruiting, people operations, onboarding, culture, and internal processes from the ground up as the company scales from approximately 15 employees toward 30 and beyond.

This is a rare opportunity to build an entire People function from zero while helping shape the culture, hiring strategy, and operational foundation of one of the most exciting cybersecurity startups in the market.

What You'll Do

• Own full-cycle recruiting across engineering, sales, and business roles from sourcing through offer acceptance
• Partner directly with the CEO and leadership team on hiring strategy and organizational growth
• Build recruiting infrastructure, hiring playbooks, interview processes, and recruiting operations from scratch
• Source exceptional candidates using LinkedIn Recruiter, ATS platforms, referrals, and outbound recruiting strategies
• Manage candidate pipelines, interview coordination, scheduling, offer generation, and closing
• Design and improve onboarding experiences for new employees
• Support benefits administration, payroll coordination, compliance, and employee lifecycle processes
• Build foundational People policies including onboarding, offboarding, parental leave, expense policies, and employee documentation
• Help establish company culture through internal programs, events, and employee engagement initiatives
• Support office operations and ensure an exceptional employee experience
• Scale recruiting and people operations as the company rapidly grows
• Continuously improve recruiting efficiency, hiring quality, and operational excellence

Ideal Candidate Background

Experience Requirements

• 2–4 years of experience in recruiting, People Operations, HR, or Talent Acquisition
• Experience working at an early-stage startup (sub-50 employees preferred)
• Full-cycle recruiting experience across technical and business roles
• Experience building recruiting processes or operational workflows from scratch
• Exposure to People Operations including onboarding, benefits, compliance, payroll, or employee lifecycle management
• Experience partnering closely with founders or startup leadership preferred
• Strong startup ownership mentality with demonstrated operational excellence
• Experience managing multiple concurrent hiring processes
• Comfortable operating in highly ambiguous, fast-moving startup environments

Technical Requirements

• Strong experience using ATS platforms such as Ashby, Greenhouse, Lever, or similar
• Experience using LinkedIn Recruiter and modern sourcing tools
• Strong understanding of recruiting operations and hiring workflows
• Experience building recruiting dashboards, documentation, and hiring processes preferred
• Familiarity with HR systems and people operations tools
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Ability to build scalable recruiting processes while maintaining an exceptional candidate experience
• Comfortable managing recruiting, HR operations, and administrative responsibilities simultaneously

Education

• Bachelor's degree preferred
• Strong recruiting or People Operations background with demonstrated startup success
• Exceptional candidates with outstanding startup recruiting experience considered

Soft Skills

• Outstanding organization and attention to detail
• High ownership mentality
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong relationship-building skills
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity
• Founder mentality and bias toward action
• Strong operational execution
• Process-oriented problem solver
• Adaptable and resourceful
• Passion for building teams and company culture

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $110,000 – $145,000
• Competitive Equity Package (0.05–0.08%)
• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• Daily lunch provided
• Commuter benefits
• Equinox membership discount
• Up to $10,000 relocation assistance
• Opportunity to build the People function from the ground up
• Direct mentorship from founders and executive leadership
• Significant ownership and long-term career growth

Why Join

This is a unique opportunity to become the first People hire at one of the fastest-growing AI cybersecurity startups.

You'll build recruiting, People Operations, onboarding, and company culture from the ground up while partnering directly with the CEO on every major hiring decision and organizational initiative.

As the Founding Recruiter & People Ops Associate, you'll play a foundational role in shaping the company's future while building a career path that can grow into Head of People as the organization scales.